Review: Avenue Q

One of the cruelest jokes of adulthood is that it's so much more difficult than you think it's going to be. Young people throughout the ages have said, "Yeah, yeah. Work, pay bills, buy groceries. I got it. How hard can it be?" And then they've wondered why the grown-ups around them were giggling.

Avenue Q, at the Colonial Playhouse through March 23, mines the humor potential of being young, underfunded, and uninspired for all it's worth as it follows the lives of puppet and human characters living together in a shabby apartment building run by Gary Coleman--yes, former-child-star Gary Coleman, gleefully played by Carla Renata.

The show has been described as an R-rated Sesame Street, featuring roommates whose personalities suspiciously resemble a certain rubber-duck-loving slacker and his uptight friend, and adult ed songs like Everyone's a Little Bit Racist, and the show-stopping The Internet Is For Porn.

The main plot follows new-graduate Princeton as he tries to find his Purpose and romances the sweet and furry Kate Monster. Bostonist expected to be distracted by the onstage puppeteers, but we soon found that it's easy to focus on the puppets themselves, who are incredibly dynamic despite only having upper bodies.

Bostonist found Kate Monster to be an especially compelling character, full of hope and romanticism while still being strong and capable. She's voiced with great heart and killer pipes by Kelli Sawyer, who also pulls off the impressive feat of voicing Kate's romantic rival, Lucy The Slut.

The show's abundant humor springs from the fact that the audience will recognize themselves in the songs, from What Do You Do With a B.A. in English to I'm Not Wearing Any Underwear Today. And the sweetness and optimism that underlie the raunchiness (and is it ever raunchy; two words: puppet sex) are sure to leave you with a smile on your face.

(Photo of Kelli Sawyer and Lucy The Slut from Avenue Q's website.)